Impossible Outcomes
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. One more last dance. Story Two to 'Golden Tears', Angel's side. COMPLETE.


**Don't Own Buffyverse Related Things. **

_My Dreams Aren't Premonitions_  
_Because I'm Dreaming Of Impossible Outcomes_

He noticed her the second she walked in, as did half of the room it seemed, the commotion of heads turning towards the door getting his own attention and spotting her then. It was no surprise, she looked amazing-as she always managed to do. It didn't matter if she'd just woken up out of bed or was dressed up to the nine's-she was flawless every time.

As the ex-husband to her and the newlywed one to the woman at his side, he knew these thoughts were not the best of ideas, but that was out of his control. Being attracted to her was the least of his problems anyhow. The fact that he was still madly in love with her beat that right out of the water.

Angelus sighed, forcing himself to look away as she smiled-beamed really-at her husband as they stopped to talk to some of the other guests. She used to look at him like that, and he'd give that same dopey grin right back that Riley wore now. That smile haunted his dreams at night, made his mind go into hyper-drive over the silly notion of coming up with ideas of how to get her to look at him like that again.

Angelus took to the other side of the room, finding the spot at one of the tables with his name on it. He sat down after getting himself a refill for his glass, and put on his best happy face when someone else tried to get him to join in on their conversation. His mind remained on his ex however, no matter what he tried to do for a distraction.

OoOoO

It was nearly two hours before he saw her again. She and Riley were off to the side, drinking champagne and watching couples on the dance floor as they chatted away. He could see the longing look in her eyes. He knew most wouldn't notice it, but he did. She'd been drunk once when they'd ran into one another and she'd told him a glimpse into the marriage of she and Finn. She spoke of the lack of passion, how things always seemed content and nothing more. Of how she wished he'd do more romantic things with her, things like going out dancing... things that she missed from when they were together still.

Angelus remembered how she always fit so perfectly in his arms, how she moved flawlessly, like she was meant to be in his arms, out on the floor.

He could feel a near burning flow through his fingers, hands and arms and without knowing what he was doing, he found himself staring at her, standing and soon moving towards her. And as if the world was either working against or with him-he wasn't sure-he heard the first notes of a song he knew all too well. It was the song that played during their first meeting, their first date, their first dance at their wedding... and well beyond and in between these highlighted moments. He saw the twitch her face made as she heard it as well. And the surprise that took over her face as she finally noticed him.

Angelus' eyes were locked on hers, and he could see her struggling to breathe as he neared. He felt it in his own throat, consuming him, though he made his best attempt to smile and make it look like the most natural thing in the world.

Their last run in with one another hadn't exactly gone over smoothly, most hadn't since they split. Then there was the end of their relationship, too...

Angelus shook the thoughts from his head and put on his best calm face. He didn't know how Buffy or even Riley would react, hell he didn't even know what exactly he was doing until he did it, but found himself breathing out a silent sigh of relief when it went over smoothly. He began walking her out onto the floor, savoring even the way her small hand felt in his own much larger one.

Choosing a spot, he turned and gave her a small smile. He pulled her into his arms like it was the most natural thing in the world to him, and she went as if it was just that to her. They began to move slowly to the music and soon her head came to rest on his shoulder. He couldn't help the sigh that slipped between his lips, or the ache in his heart. Everything in his being was dying to fall to his knees and beg her back to him, to promise her the world, the moon and the stars, to tell her that he knew things had fallen apart between them but that didn't mean they couldn't get past it. He didn't care that she'd been married to someone else for nearly three years, or him for under a month. He didn't care about anything but her, never had, was pretty sure he never would. He could fake it through life but that was the truth, she was his everything.

He could hear her sniffling and that nearly brought him to his knees as well. He closed his eyes, swallowing hard. He didn't know how they'd gotten here, what went wrong, how they let it fall apart. It just seemed to snowball between them and suddenly they could never get back on the same page and everything went right to hell. He knew they should have worked harder at getting things set right but so much had happened and it'd been so easy to point the finger at the other at the time or even to just let it fall away instead of fight.

OoOoO

Angelus found himself lost in the moment, in the warmth of her, the heartache from her, the memories, the good and bad that had been the two of them that when the song came to its end it nearly caught him off guard. They stopped moving and he heard her cry, breaking his heart into a million pieces. He hugged her to him, clinging to her like a dying man, like this was going to be the last time he'd ever see her. He felt tears seeping through his shirt, her tiny hands clinging to him.

Angelus kissed her forehead, feeling his own tears falling slowly from his own eyes. "Thank you for the dance," he told her softly, his voice nearly breaking. "It's always a pleasure." Her tiny body shook and he could only stand there, holding her, his guilt wanting to consume him. He opened his mouth to say something but caught the sight of Riley in the corner of his eye. He stiffened slightly before asking her if she wanted him to walk her back over. Not that he thought that'd be a good idea with the way Riley was looking at them, nor the way he was looking at her.

Buffy shook her head, some loose strands tickling his nose. He sighed, stepping away and letting go of her little at a time. He gave her a longing look, wishing she could see how much he was hurting, how much he wanted her back, then turned. Another angry face awaited him at the other side of the room. He grimaced, knowing he was going to have a headache hit him very soon.


End file.
